From Scratch

We have a long holiday weekend coming up in the US for Memorial Day and it’s the unofficial start of grilling season with millions of cookouts planned. But they’re going to cost more this year. My country, like many others, is enduring higher food prices and the government says it’s going to get worse.
Last year food […]

Since I do practice what I advocate — cuisine d’opportunité – I have another, but very different, raspberry recipe on the heels of raspberry fool. I found gorgeous berries at a great price a few days ago and bought several containers; the savings with this raspberry vinaigrette recipe alone pays for them all.
I don’t know what bothers […]

It’s not enough that millions of American freezers are stocked with tubs of that chemical cocktail called Cool Whip. Now, Kraft is about to introduce a less taxing variety at next week’s Food Marketing Institute show in Las Vegas.
As Emily Bryson York wrote in Ad Age, Kraft is only responding to its consumers:
Consumers didn’t want […]

Cinco de Mayo is tomorrow but there’s plenty of time to make this classic. It only takes about five minutes, even less if you start with a can of tomatoes which, sometimes, is unavoidable.
Some people use the terms pico de gallo and salsa interchangeably but they are different. Salsa, the most popular condiment in America, […]

I am not a fluffy person but I don’t take myself very seriously either, so when my friend Juan tagged me for this fun meme, I was happy to play along. This is more about me than you ever wanted to know.
5 things found in your bag:
wallet
lipstick
a little mirror for the lipstick
gas coupon to save 10¢ […]

Ming Tsai, the renowned chef-owner of Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Massachussetts, was the guest judge on Top Chef 4 last night. As is Bravo’s custom, it offered him a blog spot and instead of writing a post, it’s a Q & A in bloggy form and is well worth reading. His views about food and […]

Photo removed because an ill-bred, cheap boor chose to hotlink and use my bandwidth. Internet no-no #1. Cheap isn’t even an issue! This pig is with blogspot, which is free, and so is his bandwidth and storage space.
You couldn’t pay me to eat a hot dog but if I ate them, there’s no way I’d pay […]

There’s a new badge on the sidebar. I was delighted to learn From Scratch was named Best Blog of the Day for Friday, April 4. I’m thrilled my blogazine mix of recipes and a lot of chatter about food, plus a little about politics, was deemed worthy of recognition.
Notification came in blog comments, in this case […]

It was last November that the AMA and the Center for Science in the Public Interest urged the Food and Drug Administration to consider limiting our sodium intake by requiring food companies to use less salt. The FDA is now formally considering the proposal, although it could be at least one year before a decision […]

I hate last-minute cooking for a big meal, holiday or otherwise. That’s why I prepare make-ahead gravy at Thanksgiving. But not every meal includes turkey and often, everyday meals need gravy that I am still not willing to scramble around to make at the final moment.
If you’re the same way, set aside your thoughts about […]

Did you know teal is the hot color for Easter eggs this year? The 125-year-old PAAS company, whose name (which comes from the Pennsylvania Dutch word for ‘passen’, or Easter) is synonymous with egg decorating kits, says teal has replaced purple as the most popular color. The company also says Americans who decorate eggs will fancy up an […]

As the graphic proves, everyone can be Irish today. Americans of all ethnicities are making corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day, even though it’s not an Irish thing at all.
What?
Well, if you weren’t around last year at this time — and you probably were not, as this blog was only a couple days […]

Everything has a price. Too often, the price of convenience is steep, both in dollars and good health, and it’s a steeper price than I’m willing to pay.
Take taco seasoning. Those handy envelopes of not quite three tablespoons sell for about a dollar and contain way more than a day’s worth of sodium. Depending on the brand, each […]

We all know childhood obesity is a major problem in America, but did you know that only 2% of those between the ages of two and 19 are fulfilling the dietary recommendations of the Food Pyramid? Two percent. I was staggered to read that in an article about Eat This, Not That. The authors also cite […]

William F. Buckley, Jr. has died. He was 82, and while the cause of death is not known yet, his son Christopher (Thank You for Smoking) says Buckley suffered from emphysema and diabetes.
Buckley was an eloquent voice among conservatives, possibly the most eloquent. He never had to be encouraged, as toddlers of soccer moms are, to […]